Ryan Murphy has a wicked knack for discovering fresh talent. 

Take Darren Criss: starts on Glee, then wins an Emmy for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Or Evan Peters, who wowed audiences in American Horror Story and then rocked the world with his highly acclaimed, Emmy-nominated performance in DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Now, with the Golden Globe Award-nominated Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, it’s time for Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez to take the spotlight. 

The second installment in Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology series chronicles the case of the real-life brothers (played by Koch as Erik and Chavez as Lyle) who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez (played by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny). While the prosecution argued Erik and Lyle were seeking to inherit their family fortune, the brothers claimed — and remain adamant to this day, as they serve life sentences without the possibility of parole — that their actions were born out of the fear from a lifetime of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents. 

But finding the perfect actors to balance this complexity and ambiguity would be an intense challenge. And Murphy knew he wanted two unknowns. “When we were casting, it was like the search for Scarlett O’Hara,” said Murphy. “I think we saw like 500 guys. We did an international search — people in Australia and London and Spain. It was a really, really long search.”

Then, Murphy and Brennan saw Koch and Chavez’s audition tapes and they immediately knew “these are the guys,” said Murphy. They decided not to relay that decision to the two actors immediately, instead asking them to come in to read some scenes together at Murphy’s offices. “They didn’t know that they were the first and only choice,” said Murphy. After running through some of the biggest moments from the premiere episode (and some furniture breaking on Chavez’s part when he got very into character), Murphy and Brennan doubled down on their conviction that they’d found their leads. They sent their tapes to Netflix executives later that same afternoon to tell them the search was over. “And indeed, everybody loved [them],” said Murphy. “It was a wonderful moment in the history of the show.”

One global phenomenon later, breakout stars Chavez and Koch (who received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Erik) remember their lengthy audition process, what it was like to join an impressive troupe of actors and creatives, and their experiences making Monsters.

On when they first knew they wanted to act … 

Cooper Koch: I started doing community theater when I was 5 years old, and it became a constant thing throughout my life. I was always doing musicals, and then I did theater in high school. Rock Around the Clock or Mother Goose were the first little children’s theater things. But then there were all the musicals like Beauty and the Beast, Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, and Into the Woods. I really loved Sondheim. In West Side Story, I played Tony when I was in the community theater, and then in high school I played Riff.

When it came down to deciding what I wanted to do professionally, it just made sense. Acting was the thing that I loved to do the most. I studied acting at Pace University for a few years and then I started auditioning professionally.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez: I got bit by the acting bug in high school. I started in speech and debate [and] traveled the country going to various competitions. Then in my junior year, I started to do theater. I began with a production of To Kill a Mockingbird, playing [Atticus] Finch. It happened in a funny way because the kid who was supposed to play Atticus got sick a few weeks before [opening], and the director asked if I could [take] his place. A lot of people in the faculty came to watch the show, and they gave me really, really positive feedback and suggested I think about doing this as my career.

On their first jobs and breaking into the industry …

Koch: I was in school living in New York and modeling at the time to pay my rent. I did a lot of e-commerce work, working with the Gap and Patagonia and some other brands. I told my modeling agency that I wanted to be an actor and they sent me to an [acting] agency.

Chavez: I left school after my sophomore year and moved to Los Angeles, where I spent about six months doing Postmates and various jobs to get by. Then COVID hit and I moved to Florida. I sold life insurance. I was a car salesman. There’s probably not a product under the sun that I haven’t tried to sell — it really does a good job of preparing you to hear all the no’s that sometimes come along with acting, especially in those early days as you’re trying to make a name for yourself. 

I was really hard on myself for a while because it didn’t seem to be happening. I really wanted to make a career as an actor. I knew that was what I was passionate about. I knew that I had meaningful stories in my soul that I wanted to tell. But then I got an audition for General Hospital, and they said, “We’d like you to fly out to Los Angeles and do a screen test for the character.” 

I got a call the next day that I had booked that job. This was the first affirmation from the universe that I was doing the right thing. 

I was on General Hospital for two and a half years. It was a great opportunity to get comfortable in front of a camera. You have to adapt to some pretty extreme storylines that are constantly changing. I saw it as an opportunity to work with a lot of different actors. It was the best training ground a young actor could possibly hope for.

On getting cast in Monsters and meeting each other …

Chavez: The search for these two roles was far and wide, and this came to me as part of an open call. My agent notified me about it, and immediately I was so struck by what an opportunity this would be. At the time, I had no idea how big of a bite I was really taking. When I got to the audition room, the first thing that struck me was Cooper’s love and just how full of life and inner vibrance he [was].

Koch: I just will say underneath that, I was freaking the fuck out.

Chavez: As we both were, I think. This resembled such a huge opportunity for both Cooper and myself. And immediately when we started playing with each other, something really wonderful clicked. It’s the kind of experience that you dream about when you make the decision to live the life of an artist. And I’m really, really grateful that Ryan gave us that opportunity.

I lost my mind because my dream came true. It’s a tremendous gift as an actor to have the opportunity to do a project that calls for you to summon all of who you are, your soul, your artistry. I tried to imbue this character with the very fiber of my being — that’s what I would say differentiates this role from ones that I’ve done in the past. Not every actor gets that opportunity to play that kind of role or to be called upon in that way, and I feel very grateful that I was given the chance.

Koch: [Getting cast in Monsters] was the greatest day of my life. In my calendar I have it [as an entry], and it says “dreams came true.” I know the exact day, it was June 13. I feel so lucky, so grateful.

On working with Ryan Murphy …

Koch: What was it like entering the Ryan Murphy universe? I mean, they really treat every script and all of their actors with such care. It’s very collaborative. When the strikes ended, we immediately went into rehearsals. We are very fortunate to have some time with the director and with the actors that we were going to be working with.

Growing up, my brothers and my dad and I would watch Glee every week. We all loved that show. And then when I was in college, I was introduced to American Horror Story — it was really one of the first TV shows that I binged and that I was obsessed with. I loved American Horror Story —  the storytelling, the characters, and the way that everything is shot, the costumes. I was in love.

Chavez: [Working with Ryan,] you have to adapt very quickly. You’re meeting a lot of people very fast, and there is, of course, a standard of excellence. Ryan is an excellent human being, and the reputation he’s cultivated is one of high performance. So when I started meeting people in the cast and people in the crew, it was clear that I was talking to highly trained people who knew what they were doing, and this gave me a couple different feelings. Number one, it made me feel at ease because I knew that I was in good hands. And then number two, when I felt the effects of that expertise in the form of the clothes that I was wearing, the way that my hair was being done, the quality of the scripts and of the dialogue and of the other actors that were being cast, and of the notes that the directors gave. Everything comes together in such a beautiful, synergistic way that allows that moment of creation to really pop.

On taking care of themselves during this project …

Chavez: I have a beautiful and very supportive family, and it was nice to be able to call them after long days. But also, there’s a real team element to tackling a project like this; you’re not existing in a vacuum. We come together and we all cultivate this environment, and everyone is experiencing the same reality. Anytime a hard day comes up, everyone is really, really supportive of each other. I couldn’t have asked for a more gracious cast and crew because they fostered an environment of love and of understanding that really went a long way to helping everyone’s performance and everyone’s mental health.

Koch: In the beginning it was challenging. So there were times when I would get home, I wouldn’t even turn a light on. I would just get in bed and fall asleep — or sometimes not fall asleep. It would be difficult to sit with myself at the end of the day and also feel unsure about what the next day was going to look like. But toward the middle, and then in the end, I really found a nimble way to be able to step in and be Erik when I needed to be Erik on set. And then when I wasn’t Erik, to just be really sure that I was being true to Cooper and being kind to him and treating him with care. I would go home and turn the lights on, take a shower, and then watch some Avatar: The Last Airbender or something.

On what’s next …

Koch: I love being an actor, and I want to tell amazing stories and work with amazing filmmakers, and that’s really my goal. I just want to keep working and keep honing my craft and learning. I would love to do a play on Broadway. I just saw Sarah Paulson in Appropriate, which was absolutely incredible. And I like indie films, art films … I would love to do something like that, but I also love TV. I just want a good script and a good character that I can really connect to and sink my teeth into and that challenges me.

Chavez: I am so excited to see what the future holds. I just went to the Met, and it’s so beautiful. There are so many impressive artists. When I was there, this is what I wrote down: “In my career, I’m determined to make a significant contribution to art and to the world,” and I’m really curious to find out what that means for me. I’m going to find my own path, and I’m going to make meaningful use of the time that I have on Earth.

Reporting by Sarah Rodman.